The Danish prime minister, who angered Muslims during the flap over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muham-mad, has confirmed he is a candidate for NATO secretary-general, ending weeks of speculation.

NATO leaders plan to discuss the appointment today during their summit in France and Germany, after failing to reach an agreement Friday, an alliance spokesman said.

"We haven't arrived at consensus yet," NATO spokesman James Appathurai told reporters as the 28 NATO leaders held a working dinner in Baden-Baden, Germany. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has been seen as a frontrunner to succeed Jaap de Hoop Scheffer when his term as NATO chief runs out Aug. 1.

But NATO member Turkey opposes the 56-year-old Dane, who infuriated many Muslims by defending freedom of speech during an uproar over a Danish newspaper's publication of the cartoons in 2006. He has also angered Turkey by opposing its membership in the European Union.

"On this issue, we don't want NATO to be weakened," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a news conference at the Chatham House think tank in London on Friday.

He did not say, however, if Turkey planned to veto Fogh Rasmussen's candidacy. And Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who is representing Turkey at the summit, told reporters only that "Turkey's view on the issue is unanimous."

Erdogan has criticized Fogh Rasmussen for his unwillingness to stop broadcasts by a Kurdish satellite television station, Roj TV, which Turkey accuses of putting out propaganda for Kurdish rebels.

"NATO is an organization whose duties are to ensure peace," Erdogan said. "But the mouthpiece of the terror organization in my country is broadcasting from Denmark. I have written to Mr. Fogh Rasmussen four years ago but he did not do anything."

Erdogan also criticized Fogh Rasmussen's attitude during the crisis over the publication of the Prophet cartoons.

"How those who made no contribution to peace at that time can contribute to peace now?" Erdogan said. "These are raising question marks."

Fogh Rasmussen told his Liberal party colleagues of his decision before he left for the summit, party spokeswoman Inger Stoejberg told Denmark's TV2 News.

Selecting Fogh Rasmussen also may be seen as unhelpful to NATO's efforts to rebuild relations with Russia.

Denmark's relations with Russia were damaged by its refusal both to extradite a Chechen rebel envoy in 2002 and to cancel a Copenhagen conference that year of rebels and rights activists. Vladimir Putin, who was Russian president at the time, responded by canceling a scheduled trip to Copenhagen for a summit with the European Union. The November 2002 meeting was moved to Brussels.

Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, called the alliance undemocratic in a TV interview Friday, saying the process to choose a new chief leaves outsiders guessing about the candidates' positions on crucial issues.

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Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Slobodan Lekic in Strasbourg, France, contributed to this report.